Wire stripping tool

ABSTRACT

A readily attachable and detachable handtool for use in the telephone industry. It enables a user to cleave and strip off the usual web attached support wire of a plastic-covered cable. An elongated body or head has a surface provided at a rearward end with a T-shaped handle. Appropriately grooved abutments and oriented recesses define a guideway for the readily insertable and removable support wire. An appropriately mounted cleaving blade has a reversible cutting edge bridging the guideway and which comes into play as the tool is manually pulled along the web-attached support wire.

United States Patent [191 Belling Aug. 7, 1973 1 WIRE STRlPPING TOOL[76] Inventor: wiiiiamr; Beiiing,'i e, 3, 36x '12 La Crosse, Wis. 5460122 Filed: Dec.20, 1971 [21] Appl. 190.: 209,889

[52] US. Cl. 30/90.8 [51] Int. Cl H02g 1/12 [58] Field of Search 8l/9.5R, 9.5.A, 81/95 C; 30/90.l, 280, 294, 90.4, 90.6, 90.7, 90.8

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,943,391 7/1960 Shannon30/90.8 3,091,03l 5/l963 Grant 3,l69,3 l 5 2/l965 Mankovitz 30/90.6

Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Assistant Examiner-J. C. PetersAttorney-Harvey B. Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT A readily attachable anddetachable handtool for use in the telephone industry. It enables a userto cleave and strip off the usual web attached support wire of aplastic-covered cable. An elongated body or head has a surface providedat a rearward end with a T-shaped handle. Appropriately groovedabutments and oriented recesses define a guideway for the readilyinsertable and removable support wire. An appropriately mounted cleavingblade has a reversible cutting edge bridging the guideway and whichcomes into play as the tool is manually pulled along the web-attachedsupport wire.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEnAuc 1 I975 3,750,281

-$upporr Wire William E Belling r5 INVENTOR.

/2 20 BY W WIRE STRIPPING TOOL This application is a substitute ofapplication Ser. No. 10,784, filed Feb. 12, I970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a special purpose handtool which is expresslydesigned and appropriately adapted for use in the telephone industry inthat it enables a user to cleave and detach the customary web attachedsupport wire which constitutes an integral part of a telephone cable,for example, a plastic covered cable wherein a complemental plasticcovered support wire is joined to the cable proper by a severable web.

The tool herein disclosed lends itself to acceptable use andserviceability when the user is called upon to cope with the oftendifficult task of severing and detaching the web-attached support wirefrom the complemental cable. The cable herein disclosed is a type whichis extensively and currently used in the telephone industry and which ischaracterized by a relatively small support wire which is commensuratein length with and spaced from the peripheral surface of the plasticcovered cable and which is joined to the cable by an attaching butseverable web. As is known, it is necessary to remove the support wireso that the cable can be installed in buildings where numerous sharpbends and turns have to be made. It is difficult, sometimes virtuallyimpossible, to run this type of a cable,pull to a building and then intoand through a conduit with the support wire still attached to theplastic jacket of the cable. Prior to the advent of the instantinvention it has been common practice to use a knife of one type oranother in a manner to sever and disconnect the support wire. However,it is often objectionable to employ a cutting knife for the reason thatthe blade of the knife cuts into the telephone cable and damages thesame. The disclosed tool makes it practical and feasible to remove thesupport wire with no damage to the cable.

Briefly, the disclosed tool is preferably made of aluminum and embodiesa rigid elongated body or head which is generally of the shape shown inthe drawing and which has a face which is of an area that the medianlengthwise portion is adapted to be firmly attached to and progressivelypulled and slid along the webattached portion of the support wire. Asherein described this head has a forward end and a rearward end. Therearward end has a rigid handle joined thereto. The head, that is oneface thereof, is provided with abutments and groove means and coactingrecesses which constitute a guideway in which the support wire isinserted and retentively keyed. A web cleaving blade is oriented withthe support wire and web and has a cutting edge which bridges thegrooved guideway.

More specifically the guideway is characterized by foward and rearwardabutments with adjacent ends spaced apart and which are provided withaligned confronting grooves. The grooved abutments are associated 'withforward and rearward recesses which are communicatively joined with eachother and which are so arranged that it is possible to readily attachthe head to the over-all cable. The handle is T-shaped in plan andembodies a relatively stout shank which is joined at its forward end tothe rearward end of the body or head and has a crosshead joined to therearward end of the shank and providing a pair of outstandingfingergrips. The handle may be slightly offset and is balanced and soarranged that it enables the user to handle the tool with efficiency andreliability.

Repeated experience and use of the disclosed tool has shown that it issimple, practical and durable in construction and functions withpositive certainty to cleave and separate the supporting wire from thecommunications cable. It is easy to use and will function repeatedly andwith requisite safety, is virtually indestructible and accordingly wellserves the purposes for which it has been devised and perfected.

Experimental use of this tool has shown that it is so designed andbalanced that the handle enables the user to readily attach and thenslide the tool evenly along the support wire with the assurance that thesupport wire can be stripped from the cable with virtually no damage tothe cable itself. The coordinating grooves in the forward and rearwardabutments function to line up the overall cable so that separation ofthe support wire from the cable is neat. Hence, it is feasible toexpeditiously take care of the separating and stripping job outside of abuilding, much to the advantage of all persons concerned.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective showing the unique tool and how it isconstructed to achieve the readily attachable and detachable steps whichare necessary for cleaving the support wire and separating it from thecable proper.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the tool showing the support wire and cablein phantom lines and showing, what is more significant, how one goesabout attaching the tool to the overall cable before swinging it intoits slidealong operating position.

FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIG. 2 and showing the tool swungapproximately 45 from left to right and assuming its ready-to-useposition.

And FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken approximately on the plane of thesection line 4--4 of FIG. 3 looking in the direction of the indicatingarrows.

With reference now to the views of the drawing, the improved handtool isof one piece construction and is characterized, generally stated, by anelongated body or head 6 and a complemental integral handle 8. Thehandle 8 is T-shaped and embodies a crosshead 10 defining suitablefingertips l2 and including a stout balanced shank 14 which is joinedfor convenient use to the adjacent rearward end portion 16 of the bodyor head 6. The forward end portion of the head is denoted at 18. Thesmooth bottom side of the head (FIG. 4) is rounded or appropriatelyconvex in shape as shown at 20. The upper surface of the head isspecially designed to provide the aforementioned lengthwise centralizedguideway and the component parts of said surface. One of theaforementioned recesses, which may be called a rearward recess, isdenoted at 22 and the complemental recess along the forward portion isdenoted at 24 and is differentiated as the forward recess. Theserecesses are of suitable contour and of corresponding depth, the degreeof which is brought out, as is evident in FIG. 4. The adjacent endportions of the two recesses 22 and 24 are communicatively joined by athird or companion recess 26. This recess is diagonal with respect tothe lengthwise dimension of the overall head as is evident in FIGS. 1 to3 in particular. By thus recessing the surface the remaining portionsprovide a rearward abutment 28 and a forward abutment 30. Theseabutments are cooperable with their respective recesses 22 and 24. Theyare also located to coincide with the lengthwise marginal portions as isshown. The oblique angled forward transverse end of the abutment 28,denoted at 32 is substantially parallel to and spaced from thecorrespondingly oblique angled rearward transverse edge 34 of theforward abutment 30. These two edges coincide with the recesses and moreparticularly with the connecting recess 26 to permit one to attach therecessed and abutment-equipped head to the cable means as shown in FIG.2 and then bodily swing and move the tool from the attached angle inFIG. 2 to the ready-to-use angle shown in FIG. 4. It is important to beable to attach a stripping tool of this type to the cable at whateverpoint desired, as is evident. The respective lengthwise inboard edges 36and 38 are provided with coacting grooves. The forward groove is denotedat 40 and the rearward groove at 42. These two grooves in conjunctionwith the recess means 22, 24 and 26 functions to provide not only theattaching and detaching means for the tool but the aforementionedguideway for the cable. Digressing for the moment the cable proper isdenoted by the numeral 44 (FIG. 4) and the support wire, which isrelatively smaller, by the numeral 46. The severable web which connectsthe paralleling peripheral surfaces of the cable and support wire isdenoted by the numeral 48.

The blade is denoted by the numeral 50 and is a single-edged blade butis reversible. This blade is secured by a screw-threaded headed fastener52 on an obliqueangled ledge 54 and is supported securely against anappropriately angled shoulder 56. With the blade fastened on the ledgeand abutting the shoulder one corner portion projects across theguideway, that is the grooved means 36 and 38, and is then in a positionto achieve the cutting and severing step shown in FIG. 4.

It follows that the tool itself is clearly shown in FIG. I and isreadied to be attached to the overall cable means in the manner shown inFIG. 2. To accomplish this it is necessary only to seat the support wirein the recesses 22, 24 and 26 with the tool assuming the offset oroblique angle shown in FIG. 2. With the tool thus related relative tothe cable the user then moves the tool from the attached position ofFIG. 2 and swings it approximately 45 to assume the position shown inFIG. 3. The cable is then lined up with the guideway, more particularly,is seated in the grooves 36 and 38. With the tool thus attached it isevident that by catching hold of the handle the tool can be slid alongthe support wire in a manner that the web 48 will be severed and thesupport wire detached. FIG. 4 shows the cable and support wire and webin position in the tool and also the blade means ready to function. Bythus considering FIG. 2, then FIG. 3 and further assuming that the toolhas been slid partially along it will be evident that the cable proper44 assumes the position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3. It followsthat the construction and manner of use of the tool is believed to beevident from the description and the illustrative views of the draw- Theforegoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of theinvention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A handtool for cleaving and stripping off the severable support wireof a plastic covered telephone cable comprising a rigid elongated headhaving top and bottom surfaces, said top surface being adapted to beoriented with and progressively slid along the cable, said head havingforward and rearward ends and said rearward end having a rigidintegrally attached handle, said head having a guideway adapted to havethe support wire cooperatively but retentively and releasably keyedtherein, and a cleaving blade carried by said head and coordinated withsaid top surface and having a cutting edge bridging and coacting withsaid guideway, said guideway embodying recess means and associatedgroove means, said recess means permitting the tool to be bodilyattached and detached at whatever point desired along the length of theoverall cable, said groove means constituting the principal componentsof the guideway and embodying forward and rearward grooves for operableslidable reception and retention of the support wire, said guidewaybeing characterized by forward and rearward abutments rising to a planeabove said top surface, said abutments having spaced inboard lengthwiseedge portions, said edge portions having said open-ended grooves, saidgrooves being adapted to receive and retentively hold said support wirein a web severing position.

2. The tool defined in and according to claim 1 and wherein one abutmentis provided with an obliqueangled ledge, said ledge provided with ashoulder, said blade being accessibly and removably seated on said ledgeand being reversible and having a cutting edge bridging said guideway.

3. A handtool for cleaving and stripping off the severable support wireof a plastic covered telephone cable comprising a rigid elongated headhaving top and bottom surfaces, said top surface being adapted to beoriented with and progressively slid along the cable, said head havingforward and rearward ends and said rearward end having a rigidintegrally attached handle, said head having a guideway adapted to havethe support wire cooperatively but retentively and releasably keyedtherein, and a cleaving blade carried by said head and coordinated withsaid top surface and having a cutting edge bridging and coacting withsaid guideway, said guideway embodying recess means and associatedgroove means, said recess means permitting the tool to be bodilyattached and detached at whatever point desired along the length of theoverall cable, said groove means constituting the principal componentsof the guideway and embodying forward and rearward grooves for operableslidable reception and retention of the support wire, said guidewayembodying forward and rearward elevated abutments, said abutments havingstraight lengthwise inboard longitudinal edges in substantial alignmentwith the longitudinal axis of said head and said edges havingconfronting surfaces and said surfaces having said open-ended grooves,one groove to the left and the other groove to the right of thelengthwise axis, said grooves having a crosssectional dimension toreceive half portions of the support wire in a manner to hold thesupport wire in a given web cutting position, the rearward end of theforward abutment having an oblique-angled ledge and said ledge beingprovided with a blade positioning shoulder, said blade being removablymounted on said ledge and fastened in contact with the shoulder, saidblade being reversible and having a cutting edge bridging said guideway.

4. The tool defined in and according to claim 3 and wherein said handleis T-shaped in plan and embodies a relatively short stout shank joinedat its forward end to the rearward end of said head and also embodying acrosshead which is joined to the rearward end of said shank, saidcrosshead providing a pair of outstanding fingergrips, whereby tofacilitate handling and steadily pulling the overall tool along and incontact with said support wire and the web which is joined to aperiphcral surface of said support wire.

S. The tool defined in and according to claim 4 and wherein theaforementioned top surface is provided with a rearward recess opposed tothe grooved edge of said rearward abutment, a second recess adjacent andopposed to the grooved surface of said forward abutment, the rearwardend of the forward abutment and forward end of the rearward abutmenthaving obliqueangled surfaces disposed in spaced apart parallelism, andthe adjacent ends of said recesses being oriented with each other andjoined in communicating relation by way of said recess means, saidrecess means being parallel to the oblique ends of the abutments and theseveral recesses serving to facilitate attaching the tool to the overallcable at any selected point in a manner that the tool can be bodilyturned through an angle of approximately 45 toward the cable so as tofacilitate attaching and detaching the tool.

1. A handtool for cleaving and stripping off the severable support wireof a plastic covered telephone cable comprising a rigid elongated headhaving toP and bottom surfaces, said top surface being adapted to beoriented with and progressively slid along the cable, said head havingforward and rearward ends and said rearward end having a rigidintegrally attached handle, said head having a guideway adapted to havethe support wire cooperatively but retentively and releasably keyedtherein, and a cleaving blade carried by said head and coordinated withsaid top surface and having a cutting edge bridging and coacting withsaid guideway, said guideway embodying recess means and associatedgroove means, said recess means permitting the tool to be bodilyattached and detached at whatever point desired along the length of theoverall cable, said groove means constituting the principal componentsof the guideway and embodying forward and rearward grooves for operableslidable reception and retention of the support wire, said guidewaybeing characterized by forward and rearward abutments rising to a planeabove said top surface, said abutments having spaced inboard lengthwiseedge portions, said edge portions having said open-ended grooves, saidgrooves being adapted to receive and retentively hold said support wirein a web severing position.
 2. The tool defined in and according toclaim 1 and wherein one abutment is provided with an oblique-angledledge, said ledge provided with a shoulder, said blade being accessiblyand removably seated on said ledge and being reversible and having acutting edge bridging said guideway.
 3. A handtool for cleaving andstripping off the severable support wire of a plastic covered telephonecable comprising a rigid elongated head having top and bottom surfaces,said top surface being adapted to be oriented with and progressivelyslid along the cable, said head having forward and rearward ends andsaid rearward end having a rigid integrally attached handle, said headhaving a guideway adapted to have the support wire cooperatively butretentively and releasably keyed therein, and a cleaving blade carriedby said head and coordinated with said top surface and having a cuttingedge bridging and coacting with said guideway, said guideway embodyingrecess means and associated groove means, said recess means permittingthe tool to be bodily attached and detached at whatever point desiredalong the length of the overall cable, said groove means constitutingthe principal components of the guideway and embodying forward andrearward grooves for operable slidable reception and retention of thesupport wire, said guideway embodying forward and rearward elevatedabutments, said abutments having straight lengthwise inboardlongitudinal edges in substantial alignment with the longitudinal axisof said head and said edges having confronting surfaces and saidsurfaces having said open-ended grooves, one groove to the left and theother groove to the right of the lengthwise axis, said grooves having across-sectional dimension to receive half portions of the support wirein a manner to hold the support wire in a given web cutting position,the rearward end of the forward abutment having an oblique-angled ledgeand said ledge being provided with a blade positioning shoulder, saidblade being removably mounted on said ledge and fastened in contact withthe shoulder, said blade being reversible and having a cutting edgebridging said guideway.
 4. The tool defined in and according to claim 3and wherein said handle is T-shaped in plan and embodies a relativelyshort stout shank joined at its forward end to the rearward end of saidhead and also embodying a crosshead which is joined to the rearward endof said shank, said crosshead providing a pair of outstandingfingergrips, whereby to facilitate handling and steadily pulling theoverall tool along and in contact with said support wire and the webwhich is joined to a peripheral surface of said support wire.
 5. Thetool defined in and according to claim 4 and wherein the aforementionedtop surface is provided with a rearward recess opposed to the groovededge Of said rearward abutment, a second recess adjacent and opposed tothe grooved surface of said forward abutment, the rearward end of theforward abutment and forward end of the rearward abutment havingoblique-angled surfaces disposed in spaced apart parallelism, and theadjacent ends of said recesses being oriented with each other and joinedin communicating relation by way of said recess means, said recess meansbeing parallel to the oblique ends of the abutments and the severalrecesses serving to facilitate attaching the tool to the overall cableat any selected point in a manner that the tool can be bodily turnedthrough an angle of approximately 45* toward the cable so as tofacilitate attaching and detaching the tool.